This book was so cozy and sweet while also having great world building and plot development. I wish it was a little bit longer but that’s the sci-fi/fantasy lover in me. Overall it was very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend

The rare novella that I wouldn't have minded being extended into a full-length book. The setting alone will have me returning for the second installment, and the mystery wrapped up nicely without feeling predictable.

Truth be told, this book took a little bit for me to get into (though that may have been a me-issue), but I eventually switched to the audiobook and that swept me away. As someone who adored Waite's Feminine Pursuits historical romance series, I was very curious to read her sci-fi - quite a shift, but I think this series has a lot of promise.

The general idea of this series is that humans have left Earth, but it's going to take a long time to get to where they're going next. Instead of going with the classic cryostasis story where everyone just sleeps for a thousand years, this story imagines that you can store your memories into a central hub and when your body deteriorates, your memories are implanted into a new body. And so, your life continues.

Except when one of the ship's detectives is "woken" up, she finds herself in the body of a recently murdered passenger. The book followers her trying to solve the mystery and along the way we get to meet a very fun cast of characters, learn more about this very cool setting, and get little hints of romance along the way. I won't say too much about the ending, but I was extremely happy to learn it will be a series. ;)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I didn't vibe with this book! It was interesting at first, but it got complicated and I lost interest fairly quickly. Points for inventiveness, but that's about it for me.

a charming little novella that i heavily adored, i loved the characters, the plot, etc. ! thank you so much Tor :)

Olivia Waite has written a new take on generational ships. She's got a unique solution to one of the big problems with generational ships and I loved it. A tightly plotted and written novella, you don't need to be a SFF fan to enjoy this murder mystery. Technically a locked room mystery as well, which is a neat twist. The start of a series featuring the protagonist (Dorothy Gentleman), I can't wait for the next one.

Also, I want the knitting pattern she mentions!

Recommended for older teens and up, this is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Murder by Memory is an introductory novella in an SF mystery series by Olivia Waite. Released 18th March 2025 by Macmillan on their Tordotcom imprint, it's 112 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a delightful locked room murder mystery, very cleverly constructed with top notch characterizations, pacing, and a palpable sense of setting. The author does a great job introducing the setup (personalities and memories and people can be saved, backed up, and downloaded into another body as needed in order to span the amount of time necessary for interplanetary travel), and playing on that when a -real- potentially permanent murder occurs, where the brain backup is deleted.

MC Dorothy is a ship's sleuth, and gets dropped (literally) into the middle of a developing murder wave onboard. Although serious, there are humorous twists and amusingly (clever) dialogue throughout. Delightfully, this is an introduction, and Dorothy will be back in upcoming volumes (book 2 is due out from the same publisher in late 1st quarter 2026 (and from publisher's info, appears to also be a shorter form, novella or short novel).

Four stars. It could've been fleshed out into a full sized novel, but really, the author nailed the right amount of sarcasm, witty repartee, and the denouement is perfect and satisfying. It would be an excellent choice for public or home library acquisition, or a buddy read. Looking forward to Dorothy's next case (which is apparently an unexplained human foundling left outside her nephew's door - *yikes*).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Soft, comfort, quirky cozy fantasy read. Loved it. Novellas are hard to handsell, but this one's been easy!

(2.5 rounded down). The story was really interesting but I felt like it continually undercut its' own tension. It was a lot of fun ideas but because it was so short, every other page is a conversation and then simple reveal after a certain point. I thought the plot was great but the writing didn't make me excited to find out more. The writing was very tell, not show. It is built into such an interesting world and concept and that is such a small part of the story. I really wished we got to see more of the library or more of how it came to be. This seemed more to be a detailed outline of a super interesting story rather than the completed result.

another banger novella, i have been reading so many of those lately! Tor has really brought them back into fashion in a big way. and this one is so charming!

this cozy mystery takes the intimate village setting of something like Murder, She Wrote and transposes it to space, aboard a sort of generation ship—but rather than actual generations living and dying and being born on the long journey from earth to another habitable planetary body, the passengers aboard the HMS Fairweather are able to preserve and update copies of their minds in the ship's library, and live out as many lifetimes as they desire in successive clones of their own bodies. a REALLY interesting way to get around the length of the journey, to me, and it creates an even more intense insularity among the communities on the ship, with even more time together to forge relationships and make enemies and hatch schemes. i could have happily read a much longer book exploring more of the ship and its residents, and hopefully it will continue to be the setting for more installments!

and of course, a cozy mystery has to have a delightful detective narrator—in this case Dorothy Gentleman, who wakes up after several years of unembodied rest in a body that isn't hers, and is called upon to untangle a murder committed during a magnetic storm. i adore her! her curiosity, her intelligence, her love for textile arts, her buttoned-up affection for her nephew Ruthie and his new partner John, her commentary on the attractiveness of every woman she encounters...she's the queer Miss Marple i didn't know i needed. i'm already shipping her with the suspicious hot blonde who owns the yarn store.

Olivia Waite’s forthcoming sci-fi novella Murder by Memory is set on the Fairweather, an interstellar generation ship where people can live more than one lifetime by uploading their consciousness to a Library and getting a new body after they die—a circumstance that significantly alters both murder and the solving of murders. This novella is a little bit A Memory Called Empire and a little bit P.G. Wodehouse, as the ship’s detective, Dorothy Gentleman, is the practical, inquisitive aunt of an absentminded and absurd-yet-charming nephew. (Everyone is queer, obviously.) While embroiled in solving a case, Dorothy has the intriguing beginnings of a romance with a mysterious and beautiful woman who owns a yarn store. She also drinks an enticing magic cocktail of memory liqueurs that give the drinker the sensory experience of a memory, admires many fiber arts, visits the awe-inspiring Library, and joins a luxurious club full of intellectual troublemakers, making this generation ship seem like a place I would very much like to hang out, despite all the murders.

This is a short, cozy sci-fi mystery with an interesting concept. The idea of storing memories and how it changes crime is fascinating, and the world-building is strong despite the length. The mix of mystery and sci-fi worked really well, though the mystery itself feels a bit straightforward. The characters are fun and likeable, and the story has great queer representation. It’s an easy, engaging read that you will enjoy if you are a fan of light sci-fi and/or mystery.

I enjoyed this novella and have recommended it to several friends who want to dip their toe into contemporary science fiction.

3.5 - there were a lot of really cool ideas in here, but even for a novella this was short so we didn't get to fully explore those ideas. the mystery aspect also felt a bit rushed/straightforward; i think i would have liked more depth to it. but i still had a fun time reading it, and would read more in this series and from this author.

REP: sapphic main character; gay side characters; sapphic side characters [queer - bisexual - author]

A fun, queer and cozy sci-fi novella that is low stakes and an easy read. I loved the concepts of memory books and the entire idea of the ship in general, I do wish it leaned more heavily on the sci-fi and less on the sleuthing side; that's more of a reading preference and what makes it cozy so I can wholeheartedly recommend it as it's written well and the characters are a lot of fun. I was more interested in the actual ship and its inner workings versus the crime that had happened due to the original ideas that Waite had created.

Murder by Memory is a short, sort of cozy sci-fi mystery. I don’t want to say too much, but the story is set on a space ship travelling to a new home. They have been travelling for hundreds of years and so have a way to save your memories to re-install in a copy of your body when you die. It offers a fascinating look at how having no real fear of death can affect crime. I loved this and can’t wait for more!

I absolutely adore this book! Novellas are a hit or miss for me because it's so easy to include not enough or too much information but Olivia Waite was brilliant with balancing out the details! She sprinkled in just enough information about their society and tech for us to understand and all the characters were highly fascinating. This is truly a cozy queer scifi mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm so excited to read Book 2!

Thank you to Tordotcom for an ARC and getting us in contact with Olivia Waite for a Shit We've Read podcast interview!

Dorothy Gentleman wakes up and learns that her memory book has been destroyed, she's in a body that belonged to someone else, and there's been a murder aboard the generation ship she's lived on for three hundred years. What's a fifty-seven year-old knitting detective to do, but solve the crimes?

A little bit The Mimicking of Known Successes meets The Spare Man, with the technology of The Blighted Stars and A Memory Called Empireto add some interesting flair.

Those who have followed along know that I did not enjoy those books at all (minus Memory, which I LOVED), but somehow the brief nature of this one, with its light touch and quick pace and Miss Marple vibes, worked for me.

Anywho, it's an interesting murder mystery based on a really fascinating premise, and I think I might check out the next installment.

I received an ARC from NetGalley

Thank you to Tordotcom and Macmillan Audio for the review copies! If you’re looking for a quick genre-hybrid novella that’s easy to follow, I would recommend this one.

Murder by Memory is the first book in a cozy sapphic sci-fi mystery series. I thought the worldbuilding was clear and tight given how short the story was.

I am a very casual mystery reader - I never solve the mystery, and truly don’t even try most of the time. So the ending was a surprise to me - you may feel differently if you are a big mystery genre reader.

I thought there was going to be a romance and while there was a hint of one, but I definitely would have liked to see more. There is a meet cute, and it does feel like there’s going to be more to this relationship as the series continues, but at this point I wouldn’t classify it as a romance.

I read this by audio and felt like I could picture the world and keep track of all of the characters - something I often struggle with with both sci-fi and mystery books at times by audio. The characters were clear and the narrator was enjoyable to listen to!

Have you ever wondered what it might look like if Becky Chambers wrote a cosy, Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery? I think it would look a bit like Olivia Waite's wonderful novella Murder by Memory. I was extremely excited to read this sci-fi mystery, especially having read and loved The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics a few years ago. This bite sized mystery story is a wonderfully cosy read with fantastic world-building and great characters. I cannot recommend this more highly, especially if you love the peaceful worlds of Becky Chambers' Wayfarer series.